Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles: From FACEBOOK Post
[h1]Why I didn’t participate in the Abu Dhabi World Pro 2010[/h1]
I have had many people ask me why I didn’t compete in the Abu Dhabi World Pro this year, especially since I announced on facebook that I would be going. I have also learned that the commentators of the event were talking about my lack of attendance, so I wanted to clarify for my facebook fans, at least, the story.
The bottom line is that Abu Dhabi Pro’s strict travel rules are the reason that I did not go to compete. I wanted to go … and even thought we had everything worked out for me to go, which is why I made the post on facebook to such, but I was wrong.
I contacted the Abu Dhabi Pro in February to tell them I wanted to compete in the main event even though I was not able to participate in the trials. I wanted to know if they would invite me because I would plan all my business – training, seminars, competitions – around the event. Unfortunately, they told me that they would not tell me until a later date, and I didn’t receive an invitation until just 2 weeks before the event. By then, I had already moved on and scheduled some seminars in Spain.
After I received my invitation, I found a way to compete in the Abu Dhabi Pro and still meet my seminar commitments if they would just fly me directly to Spain following the event rather than fly me back to the US. Unfortunately, they refused to do that. They said that their policy required me to return back to Atlanta first, which would have then prevented me from meeting my seminar obligation. As a professional, I have to honor my commitments; therefore, I was not able to go to compete.
I was very disappointed that despite the hurdles I thought I overcame in order to compete, they were not able to do something I thought was very simple to accommodate.
